Ideas of Ambiente: Angelo Lunati with Tony Fretton

How did Milan become a city of such importance both economically and artistically? Its remarkable position is the result of the constant modernization Milan undertook throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The city’s upper classes were the main drivers of this development, which made Milan a true metropolis—one that reflected their common interests, rooted in keen entrepreneurship, a sense of history, and their origins. In Ideas of Ambiente: History and Bourgeois Ethics in the Construction of Modern Milan by Angelo Lunati (Park Books), Angelo Lunati investigates the relationship among the Milanese upper class, its specific urban culture, and architecture. We are invited to appreciate Milan’s architectural trajectory, from its initial romanticism via bold modernism to the elegant yet politically charged aesthetic of the post-WWII period. In this conversation between director of Milan-based practice Onsitestudio, Angelo Lunati and London-based architect Tony Fretton, they discuss how the concept of ‘ambiente’ has influenced their own practice.